Is The Lone Wolf Really Alone?

"Lone wolf" is a term that entered into common use in the 2000’s. We heard this term again after the recent attack in Las Vegas, where 59 people lost their lives and more than 500 were injured. The bloodiest armed assault in modern US history was called, according to the initial official statements, a ‘lone wolf’ attack. Again, news and comments suggesting that the attacker acted alone were prominent in the media.

This brings up a few questions to mind. How is it that a normal, ordinary person, a retired accountant can act with the calmness of a professional killer or a trained terrorist? How can he easily walk around in high- security environments with automatic weapons? On top of that, how can he do all this, apparently following a meticulous plan and without being noticed? It is hardly possible for single person to do all this without receiving any help. We hope that as the investigation deepens, they can find the hidden points and the people or organizations which the Las Vegas killer is tied to are identified.

It is remarkable that one day before the attack in the United States, another terror attack in Canada made the headlines as a lone wolf attack. According to some experts, such attacks reveal the newly evolved face of terrorism, one that is based on hatred and they also confirm that individual terrorism is also the most serious security threat Western countries are facing right now.

So, who really is this "lone wolf"? Why is he labeled as such? More importantly, how much does this term reflect the truth?

‘Lone wolf terrorist’ depicts a hateful person who has no ties to any organization or group, carrying out an attack without any help from others all alone. The mental process of such people are often rooted in false beliefs and racist or violent ideologies. The term has been popularized by the media and over time, it has been adopted by a wide range of people from security experts to the spokesmen of terrorist organizations.

According to research, lone wolf attacks have become more common, more deadly and crueler in 2010. In fact, such attacks in both Europe and the US have doubled between 2015-2016 when compared to the three-year 2011-2014 timeframe. The surprising and unpredictable nature of the attacks is an important factor that makes it difficult to fight against. For these reasons, some commentators described a lone wolf terrorist as "the number one enemy."

The term lone wolf, though seemingly descriptive at first glance, is revealed to be inadequate and misleading once a detailed analysis of the subject is carried out. Unearthing all the connections behind the scenes of a terrorist attack is undoubtedly laborious work that takes quite a long time. Such an explanation may help to somehow relieve an uneasy and worried public, but it is not enough to completely reveal the facts about the issue. There are many cases in which senior security officers, intelligence services and journalists hastily declared certain attacks as lone wolf attacks, but later confessed they had made a mistake after a more extensive investigation. Over time, some are revealed to be fanatics who were involved with radical groups or persons either over the Internet, or in person; and some are actually revealed to be secret agents employed by various intelligence organizations. In other words, an ordinary lone wolf case is actually an incident that is the product of intricate relations.

A terrorist who doesn't have an underlying violent ideological mentality is inconceivable. The ideological preliminary period is an integral part of bloody acts of terrorism; the fact that the attack is carried out by a single person doesn't change this fact. The attacker is not isolated from the outside world; he must somehow be in touch with people with similar ideologies. This way, he mentally prepares himself for the attack. Moreover, he certainly needs financial, technical and logistical support. Focusing only on the man who pulled the trigger prevents us from seeing the whole picture correctly and completely.

If there is a grave mistake here, it would be to accept "lone wolf" as someone acting alone. He is only a small part of a larger plan. Dodging more scrutiny by calling the attacker a lone wolf does not contribute to investigating the attack, nor does it solve the problem. Such a definition serves the interests of the instigators and the abettors, in other words the secret organizations behind the scenes; it allows them to carry their dark plans while the connections which exist behind closed doors are not brought to daylight. It especially facilitates the work of some deep state structures and secret organizations that specialize in social engineering and propaganda, steering the events from behind the scenes.

The term "lone wolf" also indicates a meaning that encourages sick minds, which is very dangerous; this expression can allow one to muster up the required courage and to imagine oneself as a one-man army, a superhero with superhuman powers. A more accurate definition for such an attacker could be a cold-blooded, ruthless terrorist, a psychopath, or simply a spree killer.

In terms of peace, stability and security of societies, the number one threat is not the so-called lone wolves. The number one threat is the twisted ideologies they embrace. In order to overcome this problem, the first thing to do is to remove the notions that nurture these twisted ideologies through education. Such education will also ensure that the masterminds behind the scenes who use psychopaths as killers will not find the opportunity to do so. A clearly enlightened society is always the greatest blow dealt to the plans of those who are trying to spread suffering and horror.